Benoît Cheyrou

Benoît Cheyrou (born 3 May 1981 in Suresnes) is a French association football player who currently plays for Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1. Benoît Cheyrou plays as a Midfielder and often acts as a Midfielder Deep-lying playmaker for the attack. Cheyrou is known for Benoît Cheyrou vision, distribution, and assists. Benoît Cheyrou is a former France national youth football team having represented Benoît Cheyrou nation at France national under-19 football team, France national under-20 football team, and France national under-21 football team level. Cheyrou is the younger brother of former France national football team Bruno Cheyrou, who formerly played for English club Liverpool F.C., and currently plays for FC Nantes. The younger Cheyrou earned Benoît Cheyrou first call up to the national team on 25 February 2010, but is yet to play for France.

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Benoît Cheyrou biography

Benoît Cheyrou (born 3 May 1981 in Suresnes) is a French association football player who currently plays for Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1. Benoît Cheyrou plays as a Midfielder and often acts as a Midfielder Deep-lying playmaker for the attack. Cheyrou is known for Benoît Cheyrou vision, distribution, and assists. Benoît Cheyrou is a former France national youth football team having represented Benoît Cheyrou nation at France national under-19 football team, France national under-20 football team, and France national under-21 football team level. Cheyrou is the younger brother of former France national football team Bruno Cheyrou, who formerly played for English club Liverpool F.C., and currently plays for FC Nantes. The younger Cheyrou earned Benoît Cheyrou first call up to the national team on 25 February 2010, but is yet to play for France.

Career

Early career

Cheyrou began Benoît Cheyrou career at Benoît Cheyrou hometown club RCF Paris, which served as a family tradition among the Cheyrou household as Benoît Cheyrou grandfather, father, and older brother trained there as young players as well. It is also the place where Cheyrou's father met Benoît Cheyrou mother. During Benoît Cheyrou time as a youth at the club, Cheyrou often played against the Paris Saint-Germain F.C. youth's who were considered more rich and professional than Racing, which led to Cheyrou developing a minor grudge with the Parisian giants. Following Bruno's departure to RC Lens, the younger Cheyrou stayed behind until securing a move to Ligue 2 club Lille OSC. That same year, Benoît Cheyrou elder brother joined Benoît Cheyrou at the club.

Lille

Cheyrou trained in the club's youth system for two years before earning promotion to the senior team for the Division 1 1999–2000. Benoît Cheyrou made Benoît Cheyrou professional debut on 3 September 1999 appearing as a substitute in a 2–0 victory over Toulouse FC. Four days later, Benoît Cheyrou made Benoît Cheyrou first professional start playing the entire match in a 1–0 victory over ES Wasquehal. Cheyrou remained a fixture in the team until the end of the year before suffering injury. Benoît Cheyrou returned to the team for the Division 1 2000–01 with Lille now playing in Ligue 1. Cheyrou only made 8 league appearances as Benoît Cheyrou was again limited due to injury. The Division 1 2001–02 saw Cheyrou's appearances increased to 23 league matches with the midfielder also making four appearances in the UEFA Cup. Following the departure of Benoît Cheyrou brother to Liverpool F.C., Cheyrou's importance in the team increased. On 5 October 2002, Benoît Cheyrou scored Benoît Cheyrou first professional goal in a 3–0 victory over Olympique de Marseille after having appeared as a substitute three minutes prior. After alternating between the bench and first eleven, by mid-season, Cheyrou became a fixture in the starting eleven helping Lille finished in 5th position, thus qualifying for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In Benoît Cheyrou Ligue 1 2002–03, Cheyrou appeared in 27 league matches scoring one goal, which came against En Avant de Guingamp in a 3–1 defeat.

Auxerre

In 2004, Cheyrou signed with up and coming club AJ Auxerre who were led by former player Guy Roux. In Ligue 1 2004–05, who were also playing in UEFA, Benoît Cheyrou was inserted as a starter alongside fellow midfielders Philippe Violeau and Lionel Mathis. Cheyrou appeared in 29 league matches starting 28 of them. Benoît Cheyrou scored Benoît Cheyrou only league goal of the season in a 2–1 loss to Olympique Lyonnais as Auxerre finished 8th, three points out of the European places. In the UEFA Cup, Cheyrou appeared in all 8 matches contested as Auxerre reached the quarterfinals where they lost 4–2 on aggregate to Russian club PFC CSKA Moscow. Cheyrou scored Benoît Cheyrou first career European goal in the Round of 16 second leg match against Dutch club AFC Ajax. The goal evened the match 2–2 on aggregate and the club advance 3–2 following an 86th minute goal from Mathis. On 4 June 2005, Cheyrou claimed the first major honour of Benoît Cheyrou career following the club's 2–1 victory over CS Sedan Ardennes in the Coupe de France Final 2005. Cheyrou played the entire match as Auxerre earned the title following a 90th minute game winning goal from Bonaventure Kalou.

The Ligue 1 2005–06 saw the arrival of the Denmark Thomas Kahlenberg, who Cheyrou formed an impressive partnership with. Cheyrou appeared in a career-high 35 matches for the season and also scored two goals, both in shutout victories over FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and FC Nantes. Despite suffering early elimination at the hands of Bulgarian club PFC Levski Sofia in the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the club rebounded in the league finishing in sixth position and, as a result, qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. During the Ligue 1 2006–07 season, Cheyrou was named Captain (association football) of the team and scored in back-to-back matches in September with Auxerre winning both matches. The club reached the UEFA Cup for the third straight season reaching the group stage where they finished a disappointing 4th place in their group. Auxerre also finished out of Europe in the league standings, which prompted an exodus of players looking to continue playing in UEFA competitions, which included Cheyrou.

Marseille

Following the 2006–07 season, Marseille sporting director José Anigo sought Cheyrou's services after stating Benoît Cheyrou was impressed with the player's performances during the season. On 21 June 2007, after weeks of discussion, Marseille reached an agreement with Auxerre for the transfer of Cheyrou with the player agreeing to a four-year deal and the southern coast club playing Auxerre €5 million for Benoît Cheyrou services. Cheyrou was presented along with new recruits Gaël Givet and Laurent Bonnart and was assigned the number 7 shirt. Cheyrou made Benoît Cheyrou club debut for the team on 4 August 2007 in a 0–0 draw with RC Strasbourg. Cheyrou formed an amazing three-way midfield partnership with fellow Frenchman Samir Nasri and the rugged Albanian Lorik Cana. Cheyrou scored two league goals with both coming in draws against FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Lens. Marseille finished in 3rd position after falling behind Lyon and Bordeaux during the latter part of the season. Cheyrou was named to the league's Team of the Year for Benoît Cheyrou performances. Benoît Cheyrou also featured in Benoît Cheyrou first-ever UEFA Champions League and impressed playing the entire match in Marseille's upset victory over English club Liverpool F.C. at Anfield. Unfortunately, the club finished third in the group, which meant a return to the UEFA Cup for Cheyrou. In the competition, Marseille reached the Round of 16 before shockingly suffering elimination to Russian club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg despite being up 3–1 heading into the match at Petrovsky Stadium. Cheyrou scored Benoît Cheyrou only goal in the competition in the team's previous round 3–0 first leg win over FC Spartak Moscow.

The Ligue 1 2008–09 was arguably Cheyrou's best season of Benoît Cheyrou career. Benoît Cheyrou appeared in 34 league matches scoring three goals and also providing seven assists. Benoît Cheyrou positive play and the team as a whole led to Marseille finishing in 2nd place position only falling to champions Bordeaux by three points. Cheyrou's score Benoît Cheyrou first two goals on the season in back-to-back weeks against AS Saint-Étienne and Grenoble Foot 38. On 26 April 2009, Cheyrou scored the equalizing goal in Marseille's 2–1 come from behind victory over rivals Lille OSC. Benoît Cheyrou followed up Benoît Cheyrou performance in the Lille match by assisting on two goals in Marseille's 4–0 thumping of Stade Rennais F.C. on the final match day of the season. Had Bordeaux lost their match on the final day, Marseille would have been crowned champions. For Benoît Cheyrou performances, Cheyrou was named to the Team of the Year for the second straight season. In Europe, Cheyrou scored a vital away goal in Marseille's 1–0 first leg qualifying round victory over Norway club SK Brann. In the group stage, Marseille again finished third and played in the UEFA Cup, where the club reached the quarterfinals. In the Round of 32, Marseille advanced 7–6 on penalties with Cheyrou converting Benoît Cheyrou penalty shot. In the following round, Cheyrou scored Marseille's opening goal in their 2–1 first leg win over Ajax. The team later advanced to the quarterfinals after a late extra time goal from Tyrone Mears in the second leg. The team were later eliminated by Ukraine club FC Shakhtar Donetsk.